Wednesday, September 11, 2013

Honey Locust Tree

President Gordon B Hinckley compared children to trees. When he was a young married man, he built his first home. Near one side of the house, he planted a small honey locust tree, picturing the day when that tree would bring shade to his new house. When he planted it, it was less than an inch in diameter. It was so supple he said, he could bend it in any direction. Afterwards he practically forgot about it until one day years later he noticed the tree was tilted to the west and not very becoming. He tried to straighten the tree by pushing against it, but it was much too big for that now. He got out a block and tackler, rigged up a pulley and began to pull, but the tree merely shook a little. There was nothing he could do now except major surgery. To remedy the situation he cut off a large part of the tree leaving a huge scar and only one small branch growing upward.

President Hinckley said:

Children are like trees. When they are young their lives can be shaped and directed, usually with ever so little effort. Said the writer of Proverbs, 'Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it.' (Proverbs 22:6) That training finds its roots in the home. There will be little of help from other sources. Do not depend on government to help in this darkening situation. Barbara Bush spoke in 1990 and remarked at a college graduation, "Your success as a family, our success as a society, depends not on what happens at the White House, but on what happens inside of your house." We take special care to protect our seedlings from strong winds and overpowering rains. We place them in direct sunlight. Eventually they grow up straight and strong and able to move out among the harsher elements.

Like President Hinckley's tiny tree, our young children are easy to teach and train when they are small. The tender years before the age of accountability are precious and unique. During those years, children may not be tempted bu Satan, but they are very impressionable. This is the time to develop love for Jesus and the gospel; in an environment conducive to that goal. This is when children learn the difference between right and wrong and how to choose the right. At no other time in their life will it be so easy to develop good habits and desires. Instead of being in a hurry to teach then math and reading, we should be teaching them the gospel.